The Bottom LineThe PC/piano keyboard combination is a clever one, and (as long as one is not too serious about his or her music) there is plenty of fun that can be had with this device. On the downside, the sound is MIDI, which can get very monotonous, and the slight sound delay can be annoying.

It's got a bigger screen and works with Apple Pay. It lacks a battery boost, but it's...

Just imagine: you call your work colleagues over to show them
your new computer "keyboard", and there you are playing "Heart
and Soul" on the 37-key attached piano keyboard when they
arrive! The hilarity will last minutes!. Seriously,
though, the Prodikeys is a clever idea from Creative that is
hampered only by a few problems in execution.

Performance
First of all, the best thing about this device is the PC keyboard
portion. The key touch and return are extremely comfortable, and
the cover over the piano keys makes a great wrist rest. There are
10 customisable hot keys as well as log off and Sleep buttons,
and media playback buttons.

Before you get to tickling the piano keys, however, you've got
to install Creative's Prodikeys software. This gives you access
to four main programs: Mini Keyboard, FunMix, EasyNotes and
HotKeys Manager.

Mini Keyboard is the basic piece of software that lets you
change keyboard voices from Acoustic Grand, to guitar, ensemble,
voice, or even drums (there are 128 different voices in all). You
can also turn sustain on and off for some voices and change
octaves for all of them. Changing octaves can be useful when trying
to play along with someone, but with the Prodikeys, we found that
trick to be nearly impossible. When playing on one's own, the
effect is not as noticeable, but when we tried to play along with
someone else, we noticed an extremely annoying delay (between the
pressing of the key and the sound) that kept us from being able
to keep up.

Where to Buy

Creative Prodikeys PC-MIDI

About The Author

Brian Haverty is Editorial Director for CNET Networks Australia and is responsible for the company's CNET.com.au, ZDNet Australia, GameSpot AU and Builder AU online titles. Brian has been editing and writing on an extensive range of technology subjects for 10 years in Australia but the areas he specialises in are digital publishing and production systems.